"The Eastern Front collapsed? Unexpected, and happened way too fast."
"Well, I wouldn't call it a failure exactly. Just a setback. After all, we did repel Mist, and even Haseo seriously wounded the Third Mizukage."
"But strategically speaking, losing the Eastern Front is clearly a failure. Individual heroics that defeat a Kage are admirable, but they can't hide deficiencies in command quality."
"Being ambushed after careful preparation, facing enemies outnumbering us several times over, yet still managing to save part of our forces... that's already rare enough. What does that have to do with commanding ability?"
"Failing to detect an ambush demonstrates strategic shortsightedness... That ninja's strength is unquestionable, but ultimately he's still too immature.
Just look at how the Third and higher-ups handled this situation - their attitude leans clearly toward dissatisfaction... They neither publicize Haseo's achievement against the Mizukage, nor punish anyone for battlefield failures. Isn't that enough evidence?"
"You're just making subjective assumptions. Arbitrarily guessing the Third's intentions isn't appropriate..."
Though both ninja had already secretly deemed each other foolish for a long time, neither had actually convinced the other through words yet.
Their next debate was heading toward that classic divide: "If you think you can do better, go ahead and try!" versus "Does criticizing a refrigerator require knowing how to manufacture one?"
Now news about Mist's surprise attack on the Eastern Front had already spread throughout Konoha. Judging from most ninjas' reactions, the Third Hokage indeed shaped public opinion accordingly.
Therefore quite a few ninjas deeply admired Haseo for defeating the Mizukage. After all, they didn't really understand tactics or strategies, but as a ninja, Haseo certainly hadn't disappointed them where it mattered most - strength.
Another faction of ninjas who cared deeply about their homeland and carried strong missions believed Haseo had walked straight into Mist's trap, causing massive Konoha casualties. This was clear proof of his poor command capability. Though he somewhat made up for it later, failure was still failure.
Although a few individuals wanted to criticize Haseo's personal combat performance, Haseo's results left them speechless... The Third Mizukage's severed arm alone was sufficient to silence them.
As for what had happened previously, Haseo himself had no intention of making excuses. Naturally he wouldn't request any rewards for merits either. In fact, regarding that battle, later his only request was to honor several frontline ninjas.
Mistakes made in warfare shouldn't fall on front-line fighters — their achievements were real enough.
Like that Hyuga ninja who gave Haseo a push; and another example, Might Duy, the "eternal Konoha genin"... Anyone who experienced or learned about the previous battle couldn't possibly ignore Might Duy's fighting strength.
If Might Duy stayed a Genin even after proving his strength, the Third would definitely seem unfair...
Considering how high the standards for Jonin were in the village at this time—not just combat effectiveness, but also overall quality and capabilities—it was clear that Might Guy only truly excelled in Taijutsu. For him to reach the Jōnin level, he could either be promoted or deliberately held back. At the very least, he should have been promoted to Special Jōnin.
Letting a ninja who could overwhelm ten opponents in a single burst remain a Genin? Even Konoha, with all its vast resources, couldn't afford to be that wasteful.
The title of "strongest Genin" was nothing more than a joke. Promoting deserving ninja was something a commander like Haseo absolutely had to do. Otherwise, he wouldn't qualify as a competent commander.
... ...
After class ended for the day, Kushina Uzumaki started making her way home from the Ninja Academy. Naturally, along the way, she overheard many discussions and whispers.
Nowadays, since the Ninja Academy's curriculum had shifted toward more practical, battlefield-oriented training, most students were exhausted by the end of each day.
However, for someone like Kushina Uzumaki, who possessed extraordinary innate talent and came from a traditional Ninja School background, the rigorous training at the academy posed no real challenge to her.
But these scattered and chaotic conversations along the road left her feeling troubled.
After leaving school, Kushina, as usual, first went to visit Lady Mito. Upon seeing Mito, she immediately voiced her confusion.
"Lady Mito, did Lord Haseo fail on the battlefield?"
"Fail? Oh, you've heard quite a bit of gossip, haven't you?" Though Lady Mito was someone who remained hidden behind the scenes, she wasn't cut off from intelligence, so naturally understood exactly what Kushina was referring to. "Firstly, you must understand that war is an extremely complex matter. The outcome is merely superficial; there are many things hidden beneath appearances that people often fail to see.
Objectively speaking, Konoha's Eastern Front has recently suffered a minor setback. But strictly speaking, that should be regarded as a mistake made by Konoha's leadership—represented by the Third Hokage—and the criticisms directed at Haseo are ones he shouldn't have to bear.
Moreover, he's done sufficiently well—didn't he repel the Mizukage? You understand what that means, don't you, Kushina?"
Kushina tilted her head, thinking it over. Some of Lady Mito's words confused her, but others she understood clearly. "I know! It's like how the Hokage is the strongest ninja in the village—since Lord Haseo defeated the Mizukage, that's just like defeating the Hokage, beating the strongest ninja in our village."
"..."
This sounded almost like blind admiration?
Children's thoughts tended to be simple, but thinking carefully, Kushina's words actually made some sense.
"But if the failure in war isn't Lord Haseo's responsibility, why does he have to bear the blame? And why do those ninjas who obviously can't accomplish anything keep talking trash about him?
In the Ninja Academy, the strongest talk loudest."
Kushina asked again, not quite understanding why Haseo had gone through such hardship, nor could she grasp why those who had given nothing were quick to pass judgment on the ninja who kept fighting steadfastly.
Of course, Mito Uzumaki couldn't possibly reply with something like: "Because those people are inherently capable of nothing beyond flapping their lips." That would poison a child's innocent heart.
"Everyone has their own burdens to bear, Kushina. Including you. In fact, the things you must endure might be even crueler... That you've come to my side is a kind of fortune, but it's also an even greater misfortune.
You'll understand once you're just a bit older."
As she spoke, Lady Mito gently caressed Kushina's round head, her soft and vividly colored long hair.
These words were beyond Kushina's comprehension, but fortunately, such conversations ended here. Shortly afterward, Kushina began helping Mito Uzumaki tidy the flowers and plants in the courtyard... Although she was somewhat of a troublemaker at school, here she was as docile as a kitten.
After spending some time at Mito Uzumaki's place, Kushina should have gone home directly, but today, she didn't do that.
Lady Mito's words still lingered in her mind, so before returning home, she headed for Kagenami's underground base.
This secret underground facility had become a place she could now enter frequently—although the Kagenami organization seemed wrapped in secrecy and heavy security, there were actually very few truly classified locations within it.
The least secretive part of all was undoubtedly Haseo's office. Aside from documents like budget applications, payroll sheets, administrative files, basic Ninjutsu scrolls, etc., it wasn't even remotely confidential.
In contrast, even Uzumaki Shikou's office maintained better security than his. So strictly speaking, Haseo was basically just a placeholder.
Haseo was at the Front Line right now, so of course his office was empty. After greeting a few Uzumaki shinobi on her way, Kushina arrived at Haseo's office.
Ninjas would occasionally come in to tidy up the place. Once Kushina became familiar with the Kagenami, she sometimes helped out with these kinds of "tasks" too—but this time, she hadn't come for that reason.
She remembered there were many scrolls inside that could help with training—mainly ones about chakra refinement and basic ninja techniques—so she stood on tiptoe, rummaging through the shelves.
"Little Kushina, what are you looking for?"
An unfamiliar voice, one Haseo had never heard before, suddenly appeared within the room.
But Kushina was unsurprised, because lifting her eyes, she could already see Black Cat crouched atop the bookshelf.
"Cat Sister, Lady Mito told me I'd understand many truths once I grew up a little. But for a ninja to be acknowledged as 'grown,' that definitely means having one's strength recognized. So I want to train harder," Kushina explained while continuing her search.
It was certainly a rather magical interpretation, yet Black Cat found no fault in it. In its view, human thinking circuits were just inherently bizarre like that.
Many humans weren't even interested in mice—some were even afraid of them. So wouldn't that make this ryo species strange enough?
Black Cat stretched and sat up, casually licking her paw as if deep in thought... This cat had become remarkably fluent in speaking overnight, an almost miraculous medical phenomenon.
And more importantly, its voice was actually pleasant, similar in tone to Mami's.
As everyone knows, Haseo named his cat Chiho—"Chiho the Black Cat"—who was also called "Older Sister Ayi."
"Then you won't find anything useful here either... Wait a second."
As a "senior cat," she was trying hard to maintain her dignity, although her eyes kept being drawn to a moth fluttering around the lamplight. Still, she firmly took a step forward.
She made her way to the back of the office. No one knew exactly what she was rummaging through when suddenly a hidden door opened.
"You're not allowed to go in here, okay? Only important figures within the organization have permission."
Well, she was important—actually, the worse things got, the more important she became. After all, she was one of the emergency ration supplies.
After entering the hidden door, Black Cat soon emerged carrying a scroll in her mouth before the secret passage closed behind her.
"The deeper parts are off-limits to me too, but these outer sections contain things belonging to Lord Haseo. Hmm, I can decide for myself about lending you these items—if you want to learn ninjutsu to get stronger, naturally you should study more useful techniques." First, Black Cat placed the scroll in front of Kushina and proudly tapped herself on the chest area with a paw.
But she didn't dare to promise too much.
Beyond the hidden door, there were areas she couldn't access—the final archives of the Uzumaki clan.
Compared to that, Haseo's stuff here was basically junk.
Curious, Kushina unrolled the scroll and saw four big characters written at the top—
"Forest…
Forest Leisure?"
No matter what kind of senior figure Black Cat might be, one fact remained certain—
What kind of person you are determines what kind of cat you'll raise.
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